Because if we're going to try and stop the misuse of our favorite comics and their protagonists by the companies that write and publish them, we've got to see what both the printed and online comics news is doing wrong. This blog focuses on both the good and the bad, the newspaper media and the online websites. Unabashedly. Unapologetically. Scanning the media for what's being done right and what's being done wrong.

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Las Vegas comics scene is reportedly doing well

The Las Vegas Review Journal says their comics scene which includes the local convention, if any, is booming, unlike some other parts of the country. Though the article does have some pretty naive perspectives to offer, as we'll take a look at in a moment. For now, to begin:

The annual May event is aimed largely at introducing newcomers to an art form they probably haven’t thought about since childhood, and it’s a red-letter day on any comic fan’s calendar. For Southern Nevadans, another red-letter day arrives Saturday when the Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival — a free event — runs from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road.

The events, and others like them, are indicators of a robust comic book culture in Southern Nevada. The valley is home to a surprising number of comic book shops, two of which have been recognized nationally. Three major comic book conventions are held here annually. And fans don’t even have to spend money to pursue their hobby, thanks to ever-increasing numbers of e-book and print comics circulated through the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District.

Now isn't that great! In potential contrast to New York and California, for example, where stores have closed, Nevada's doing relatively well. But wouldn't you know it, depending on the perspective, they interviewed some folks with rather awkward viewpoints:

Longtime fan Joshua Wilburn considers comic books repositories of homegrown American mythology. “Not only are (comics) well-written, but they’ve been around so long that they have such a rich history,” says Wilburn, who was accompanied on his Free Comic Book Day pilgrimage to Alternate Reality Comics by his daughters.

“A lot of people don’t understand comic books. They think they’re idiot books. But a lot of the stories really touch on things going on right now. There are stories that talk about the politics going on, homelessness, border problems. A lot of things in our everyday life are incorporated into those stories.”

I think this guy, who holds his cards close to his chest, is alluding to right-wing politics, and if he's doing it from a negative viewpoint, then he might want to consider why, in modern times, certain people might consider them "idiot" books. Because if they're going to compound a viewpoint that "liberal = good" and "conservative = bad", then why should anybody be expected to understand much more than how corrupted they've become? In fairness, I'm sure homelessness is a valid issue, but again, if border problems is the issue, and he's hinting at it from a leftist perspective, he'll only ensure those on the right who figure it all out will be discouraged.

Comic book fans often point out that comic books aren’t a genre, they’re a medium. Katherine Keller, a comic book critic, blogger and wife of Alternate Reality Comics owner Ralph Mathieu, read comic books as a child but left them behind as she developed other interests. She rediscovered comics by accident in 1991, while working at a bookstore, and began to wonder why “people think these are not good.”

Some adults assume that “comics only could be for small children,” says Keller, who’s also a founder of women’s comic webzine Sequential Tart. “Slowly but surely we’re getting away from that, and I think movies like ‘The Avengers’ are changing people’s minds that, even in superhero comics, we can tell stories that are morally complex.”

Here, I gotta wonder why this lady won't acknowledge hard truths - the movies haven't changed anyone's minds about the medium. There was a time when comics did confront hard issues like drug trafficking and racism, but today, it's become far more about identity politics, LGBT and race/gender-swapping, and even anti-conservative bashing. Something the movies under Kevin Feige are bound to become in the future.

The funniest thing is how even today, there's still bound to be people who believe comics can only be for youngsters, despite how the mainstream have become mostly unsuitable for them, with focus on jarring violence and such, yet if you look at what social justice advocates believe under a microscope, you'll see it's not really concern for children, but aside from anti-sex propaganda, it's all just efforts to corrupt and destroy fine franchises with their politics. And as far as children are concerned, if TV cartoons are now going to serve as LGBT propaganda avenues, that just proves they're not really concerned about children. Rather, they want to selectively indoctrinate.

If the scene in Vegas is booming, that's good in itself. But for interviewees to offer such naive, superficial viewpoints of what the medium is like is very disappointing.

"And fans don’t even have to spend money to pursue their hobby, thanks to ever-increasing numbers of e-book and print comics circulated through the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District."

It's booming due to tax subsidies that attract people who are interested in spreading political propaganda to children or who are otherwise terrible creators who demand state support. The tax revenue from Las Vegas, like many metropolitan areas that attract the global rich, is fueling sjw comics--a.k.a. how indie cartoonists finally found a way to support themselves with shitty comics no one wanted to pay for before.Ha ha, I'm just kidding. There aren't enough librarians to buy enough of their work to provide them with decent wages just like there weren't enough hipsters (children of the 1%) to keep a profit orientated store chain like American Apparel afloat.

The gentrification of the comics community continues. Before we know it, comics will be just like jazz and vinyl records-https://www.finder.com.au/the-vinyl-revival-has-been-hugely-exaggerated-the hippest and happenest thing in culture.

The comics boom is real, not propaganda spread by a small number of narcissistic hipsters who are useful to capitalists (their parents) to make declining industries look vital and growing.

Again with the librarian fixation? Did you know that the US is one of the only countries in the civilized word that doesn't have a comprehensive public lending rights program? Everywhere else, authors get paid a small but helpful sum for the library loans of their books; in the US libraires can lend them out without the authors getting anything. Another example of creeping socialism in America, as comic books are expropriated by the state from artists, as opposed to the way things are handled in capitalist countries like Canada and Great Britain.

Mike is right to warn about librarians. They get people other than the 1% to read, and reading is dangerous. The Old South knew what it was doing when it passed laws forbidding anyone from teaching a slave to read. Reading starts people thinking, and if people start thinking, who knows where that will lead?

Several of those indie cartoonists are conservatives, a few are right-wing radicals. Chester Brown is a libertarian, even running as a libertarian candidate in a Canadian election. Dave Sim is a right-wing anti-feminist, and his work became more and more polemical over the years. Chuck Dixon is a pro-diversity pioneer, but his recent crowd-funded indie work panders to pro-Trump right-wingers. His work is so over-the-top though that it sometimes seems almost like sarcastic caricature.

"there weren't enough hipsters (children of the 1%) to keep a profit orientated store chain like American Apparel afloat." - somehow I can't see Don Trump Jr and the other kids of the Maralago 1%ers shopping at a middle class place like American Apparel. Nowhere near high end enough for them. Don would fire his personal shoppers if they came back with AA clothing.

About me

I'm Avi Green

From Jerusalem, Israel

I was born in Pennsylvania in 1974, and moved to Israel in 1983. I also enjoyed reading a lot of comics when I was young, the first being Fantastic Four. I maintain a strong belief in the public's right to knowledge and accuracy in facts. I like to think of myself as a conservative-style version of Clark Kent. I don't expect to be perfect at the job, but I do my best.